Bill Gates celebrated, decried on Phoenix council

Two years ago, Bill Gates was one of 20 residents who applied to fill the District 3 council seat vacated by Maria Baier.

The City Council appointed Gates, and a few months later, residents elected Gates to complete the term.

This year, Gates has opposition in name only. Steven H. Gross is on the ballot, but he has not campaigned, raised funds or responded to requests for comment.

When Gates was elected, few in the community knew him. Over the past two years, he has worked to attract businesses to vacant strip malls in the district, which spans an area of Phoenix east of Interstate 17, generally between Bell Road and Dunlap Avenue.

He has promoted solar and other alternative energy. And he has held regular community meetings near the Moon Valley neighborhood, at the John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital, Paradise Valley Mall and the Shadow Mountain Senior Center

However, not all agree with his approach on fiscal matters.

In May 2010, the City Council approved a 2010-15 Public Art Project Plan. A bikeway-pedestrian bridge at 19th Avenue and Greenway Road was one of four projects in District 3 and one of 80 public-art projects in the plan.

The bridge would have made crossing the busy intersection safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

However, eight months later, objecting to costs related to the proposed bridge, Gates and members of the City Council directed the Street Transportation Department to request bids for nearly $2 million less than originally budgeted.

No bids came in under the new amount.

The move meant the city wasted $859,000 already spent on designing the bridge, $129,000 of that from Phoenix's public-art budget. The city has yet to pay back the federal government the $333,000 in funds designated to the bridge project.

"Very little of this design could be used elsewhere," said Wylie Bearup, director of the city transportation department. "It is very specific and unique to this location. It was shaped that way because it needed to be."

Gates said he took issue with spending the city's share of fuel and vehicle-license taxes on the lunar-patterned bridge.

Supporters of the bridge said those claiming "frivolous government spending" lost sight of the fact that the project, built by Valley engineers and construction workers, would boost the local economy. Gates said the bid came in much higher than what the City Council thought was realistic. That was key to his decision.

"What my responsibility to do was to re-evaluate the project in light of the current realities," Gates said. "We had to have a unanimous vote to go forward with the project if the bid would have come in at the lower number. We took the fiscally responsible right step unanimously."

Gates said he's a proponent of recreational opportunities and has worked hard to maintain city services and to keep a senior center, library and community center open.

"The budget cuts of the last few years have hurt our youth as important city facilities like libraries and community pools have had their hours cut," Gates said. "The cuts have also had a significant impact on the disabled community as same-day Dial-A-Ride and services for the blind have been reduced."

Bill Gates

Where should the city's economic-development efforts be focused geographically? Should efforts target a specific industry? "Our economic-development efforts should be focused on key corridors throughout the city - not just in the downtown area. I have been working . . . to target areas for revitalization. I have focused on the 32nd Street corridor from State Route 51 up to Bell Road, Cave Creek Road and Sunnyslope. . . . We need to diversify our economy so that we are no longer so dependent on the boom-and-bust cycle of real estate. I have been a proponent of manufacturing, biomedical and renewable energy as three industries we should target."